Senju Lore
History The Senju Clan’s history proves that no matter how hard you hold on to your beliefs, the world may have a way of altering them. The Senju had always been known as pacifists, a laughing stock to most of the shinobi world for their lack of ambition when it came to power. They lived in the dense and beautiful Forest Country, sharing the land and a common faith with the Nara, as their forest was scattered with shrines to the Kodama Faith. Worshipping the teachings of the mother, the Senju undertook their duty as Wardens quite literally. Days were spent either in prayer or tending to the needs of the forest, cultivating herbs and establishing their home as a sanctuary. Being gentle and unworldly in nature, the clan rejected the ways of life outside of Forest Country filled with greed and evil. Seemingly as homage to this, they were bestowed a gift some say came directly from Raishimaru. A Beast came to the clan to grant them a power that would deliver them closer to the trees that they dwelled within. The Senju were aware of the power of Ninjutsu, but following what they believed to be Raishimaru’s wisdom, they did nothing to weaponize their new-found power, which allowed them to manipulate chakra into organic plant matter. Alternatively, they gave their chakra to the forest by growing larger and hardier trees to better defend their holdings. If the land wasn’t a lively spirit before, the Senju made it so. Their continued pacifism angered their Nara cousins, who were actively weaponizing their own Kekkei Genkai. Tensions grew as the Senju and Nara cast judgement on each other, leading to a great ideological divide in the country. The shadow-dwellers seized autonomy over their lands and tried to maintain a firm grip over the country. Instead of swift retaliation, however, the Senju developed their settlements in the southern forest. ' ' Small quarrels between the now-opposing clans lasted for over two centuries until they were forced to ally themselves to defend the land they both undoubtedly held sacred. Seikatsu, a growing religion whose ideals disagreed with the teachings of Kodama, was rapidly spreading across the world as it suited those in power. Kodama explained restraint and granted ultimate power to nature. And as Seikatsu followers failed to extend their teachings into Forest Country, extremism grew within and attacks started in the northern forests. The Nara’s land was being set alight, and their newly developed Jutsu wasn’t enough to defend themselves. After being sent away by the Hyuuga, they had no choice but to swallow their pride and turn to the Senju. The forest was sacred to their neighbours, and Senju’s elders recognized this as an opportunity to repair the relationship with their Kodama brethren. An agreement was struck to have the Senju erect a wall around the country, made from their unnaturally strong Wood Release. The Nara would employ their shadows to prevent any that got past the defences, and as the Senju retained a connection to the Mokuton they created, an urgent call to arms could be given. During this time, the two lived together as small enclaves around the borders, while the more fragile were hidden deeper within the country. For almost a century, they remained like this, living together as almost one clan secluded from the world. No trade routes were allowed through the country, which caused tensions with neighbouring countries, who had to use alternative and less ideal routes to maintain their trade. ' ' Life within Forest Country had become peaceful once again. Seikatsu had grown to represent the predominant religion throughout the world and extremist views died out, and the Nara and Senju were once again able to worship Kodama in peace. One day, a boat arrived on the south-eastern tip of the forest, harbouring a grand family. Although the Senju had never encountered these people before, they recognized exactly who they were due to their unique red eyes. The hosts approached with caution, as the Uchiha were a notorious family that proclaimed to be descendants of Sakai. They unleashed misery onto everyone they met, having most recently taken control of Raimei in Lightning Country. Rumours had spread that they had murdered the noble families there to take leadership of the city. ' ' A young woman stepped forward from the group, introducing herself as Totsu, explaining she and her family were not here to bring any harm to the Senju, and in fact had come seeking aid. Initially, the forest-dwellers were unsure of what to do, as the Uchiha represented a force to be reckoned with. And if their heritage did stem from Sakai, the Senju’s own closeness to Raishimaru did not seal a kind fate for either clan. For a month, the Mokuton-users kept their guests on the coast, providing them with shelter and food, whilst the elders pondered over their options. They turned to meditation and asked the Mother what path they should take. It was decided that the Senju would hear out their visitors. Upon conversing, Totsu explained her change of heart. Telling of how she had disproved that their power could only be harnessed through hate, she and her family were looking to atone for the evil they had brought into the world. Totsu believed the Senju were a true representation of good and that the Uchiha could learn how to atone for their past crimes through the teachings of Kodama. The Senju deliberated for another month, many thinking the Uchiha were lying and attempting to corrupt the clan from the inside out. Until one Senju named Shido set their minds at ease with the teachings of Kodama and his belief in the sacred land they inhabited.' ' The Uchiha were taken to a large religious shrine near the coast where they had been staying and were offered it as their new home. Shido and his family looked after Totsu’s while informing them of the Senju's way of life. The guests remained there for two decades, and during this time the two clans were further bonded with their representative’s marriage. Shido and Totsu’s children were born without the Senju Kekkei Genkai, as it was later discovered that the Sharingan would always be dominant in the kin of the Uchiha. Over time, the walls the Senju had built around the country decayed, and as the Uchiha altered their beliefs, the Senju too learnt of the world outside Forest Country. Many of them unexpectedly left to explore the world and to take the Uchiha to the lands they had once invaded, to redeem their name and commit works of charity. After the destruction of Hotsprings Country, the Uchiha had provided refuge to the surviving Arumaze without hesitation and the expectation of reward. This deepened their relationship with the Senju, as they had proven to have reconciled their past and become new people. To signify the accomplishment of the Uchiha, the Senju gave away the portion of land that the Uchiha had lived in since they had been first hosted, and it was retitled Moon Country. They told the Uchiha that the land was theirs for as long as they kept to their current way of life. The Senju encouraged the marriage of their clansmen to the Uchiha, as a way to undo the fate that Sakai and Raishimaru had succumbed to, and this led to the Sharingan clan considerably grow in size.' ' For over a century, the Senju continued to live in peace in Forest Country. The Nara had changed the infrastructure considerably in the north, as the new Queen had been inspired by the bond the Senju shared with the Uchiha. Directly after the christening of Mejika, the Nara began opening their borders to trade. The north of Forest Country had roads constructed across it for the establishment of trade routes, and even the Nara Queen received the prospect of a new relationship with the Hyuuga. Despite the improvement in solidarity between the Nara and the Senju, the Mokuton-users did not require to modernise their own infrastructure and preserved their ancient ways of tending to the trees and the animals that lived within it. When the time came for the Kaguya raid, they were utterly unprepared. Believing the forest was on fire, massive groups of Senju ran towards the flames, hoping to salvage their sacred land but instead were met with an army; a horde of wooden puppets and warriors with bones protruding through their skin. Before the defenders were able to process what stood before them, they were massacred, and the Kaguya Alliance advanced deeper into the Forest, guided by the exiled Nara Prince Shika. The Senju that had remained in the centre of the Forest grew wary when their clansmen had not returned to the west. They sent distress signals to the Uchiha and the Nara and then hid, commanding the forest at their will so they could hold off whatever was coming for them. It became lucid that no help was coming, or that their messages had never arrived at their neighbours’ in the first place. The Senju had to confront the reality that they would be unable to stay hidden from their attackers forever. After one year of hiding in the centre of Forest Country, they decided to fight back, but due to never having used their Mokuton as a weapon, they lost a lot of ground in this time against the Kaguya Alliance. Their knowledge and control of the war zone were their only advantage. As the Senju were pushed farther east with each year that they fought the Kaguya, they learnt quickly how to exploit their Kekkei Genkai in combat, as wooden spikes soon littered the battlefields. Wooden clones were employed to spy on the enemy and learn of the subsequent plans of assault, but the enemy persisted, urging the Senju to send out calls for help yet again. Eight years into the war, the Uchiha turnt up to the battlefront and saved the Senju from imminent extinction. This changed the tide of the war, and members of the Uchiha were shocked to witness how the once passive Senju have mobilised into a small but capable army. However, the Senju had been weakened from the lack of food, as their supplies were mostly depleted or destroyed. And without any significant wealth, the clan had been unable to bring in food from outside the country. The Uchiha approached an influential family in Moon Country for help. They drew up an agreement that the family would provide economic support to the Senju Alliance in return of governing Forest Country after the end of the war. The Senju refused at first, as they’d lost so much of their sacred land already, but were persuaded by their partners. The leader of that family would become the future Daimyo of Fire Country, and his support allowed the Senju to take control of the war. The Kaguya were pushed back towards the west as the Uchiha began fighting, but as the clan were predominantly Fire Release users, vast portions of Forest Country were reduced to ash. As the Senju Alliance became the dominant force in the War, the Uzumaki entered the conflict, shuttling supplies from across the Eastern Sea to Moon Country in an attempt to restrain the Yuki's effort to support the Kaguya Alliance. Ultimately, they provided the weapon that would succeed in the war for the Senju. After the Uzumaki had sealed a Bijuu within a girl, she was transported to Moon Country, where the three clans of the Senju Alliance attempted to train the first Jinchuriki to be the power they had needed to ultimately conclude the war. Many within the Senju were horrified by the Jinchuriki, believing her to represent an abomination of nature, but the clans were desperate. As more factions joined both sides of the war, it seemed there would be no end to it. It acquired seven years to train Mumei to govern her new power, and when she was finally dispatched into battle, she exceeded the Alliance’s expectation with her strength. After just one year the war was won. Mumei was an unstoppable force, the power of the Beast sealed within her outmatching any power that mankind had. But in her last battle to push the Kaguya out of Forest Country, she reduced the horizons to a wasteland, lifeless and dangerous to any Man who stepped within it. Though the war was over, the Senju were deeply broken. Half a century of conflict had done more to change the clan than the centuries of history that came before it, and the clan was now unrecognisable. Many of the Senju that had protested the use of the Jinchuriki turned their back on the clan by defecting to the Kaguya’s new project in Wind Country and those that remained struggled to come to terms with the changes that their clan had gone through. The Senju Alliance remained close, and as promised, Forest Country was handed to the new Daimyo, who renamed it Fire Country after the flames that persisted there throughout the war. The Senju attempted rebalancing their purpose, as they began rebuilding the region and set up their home city close to the border of northern Forest Country that they had surrendered to the Nara. Despite the efforts of the Alliance to reassure and restore the Senju by involving them in the creation of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, many within the clan had still felt lost after the war. The Senju had spent their history trying to do good unto the world and honour the Mother, but in the end, they had become soldiers for the selfishness of self-preservation like everyone else. Category:Lore